Printers & Scanners · 4 guides
Printer not printing
Offline printers, adding a queue, stuck jobs, and prints that go to the wrong floor.
The printer is not working or shows as offline
A network or desk printer will not print, appears offline, or never wakes up.
You might notice
- Status is Offline or Error
- Jobs sit in the queue
- The printer screen is dark
- 01
Look at the printer itself
Confirm it is powered on, shows a ready state, and has paper and toner. Clear any jam message. A red light or “paper out” will keep every job waiting.
- 02
Confirm you are on the right network
Staff Wi-Fi or Ethernet is required. Guest Wi-Fi and many home networks cannot see office printers. From home you usually need VPN plus a follow-me print queue.
- 03
Remove stuck jobs and reprint
Open the print queue, cancel everything, and send a single test page. If the printer is offline, right-click it and use See what’s printing → Printer → Use Printer Online.
- 04
Remove and re-add the printer
Forget the device and add the official queue from the company printer list. Do not install a driver from a random website.
Did this get you unstuck?
How to add a network printer
Install the correct office printer or follow-me queue on a Windows or Mac laptop.
You might notice
- The printer you need is missing
- You moved desks or floors
- Prints go to the wrong building
- 01
Use the company printer list
On a managed Windows PC, open the Software Center or Start menu printer portal and install the queue by building and floor. On a Mac, use the Self Service item if one exists.
- 02
Add from Windows settings if needed
Go to Settings → Bluetooth & devices → Printers & scanners → Add device. Choose the official name, not a similar Bonjour or WSD copy.
- 03
Set it as default only if you will use it daily
Follow-me or secure-release queues are better defaults than a single floor printer. You release the job at any compatible device with your badge.
- 04
Print a test page
Send one page and collect it. If the job vanishes with no error, you added a stale queue.
Did this get you unstuck?
A print job is stuck in the queue
One document will not print and may be blocking everything behind it.
You might notice
- Queue shows Error or Printing forever
- Later jobs never start
- You cancelled the job but it remains
- 01
Cancel the stuck document
Open the printer queue, select the job, and cancel it. Wait 30 seconds. If it says Deleting, restart the laptop’s print spooler next.
- 02
Restart the print spooler on Windows
Press Win+R, type services.msc, find Print Spooler, and restart it. This clears a hung local queue without rebooting.
- 03
Turn the printer off and on
If the job is already in the device memory, power-cycle the printer after the screen is dark for 10 seconds.
- 04
Resend a smaller test
Print one page from Notepad. If that works, the original file may be corrupted or too complex. Export a PDF and print the PDF.
Did this get you unstuck?
Jobs are going to the wrong printer
Pages appear on another floor, or Windows keeps selecting an old device.
You might notice
- You walk to the nearest printer and nothing is there
- A coworker hands you your printout
- The default printer keeps changing
- 01
Look at the printer name before you click Print
Expand the printer drop-down. Names usually include building and floor. Choose the follow-me queue if you want to release at any device.
- 02
Set a sensible default
In Printers & scanners, open the correct queue and set it as default. Turn off Windows “manage default printer” if it keeps picking the last device you used in another building.
- 03
Remove printers you no longer use
Old queues from a previous desk are a common trap. Remove them so they cannot be selected by accident.